Sensory Tote

I found this idea @ Teaching Tiny Tots for building a sensory tote. I LOVED the idea and thought my kids would love it. I was also interested in the idea of dying rice- sounded kindof neat. So, I scoured my pantry and came up with all my leftover rice and decided to dye it green. It was really quite simple. I put the rice in a gallon bag and sprinkled some liquid food coloring on it. Because I wanted it to be really vibrant I also put some gel food coloring too. Then you close the bag (very important) and smoosh! Next to lay out your lovely colored rice on a cookie sheet to dry overnight. Simple! I then mixed the green rice with green split peas and some gold coins I found at JoAnn's for 1/2 off. It's a treasure hunt!

Warren with all the found gold coins.

Warren had a blast! Loved every minute of it! I put a beach towel out for him to stay on and he did great! Yes, we had some spillage, but for the most part, he was great. I left him for a minute while taking a phone call and I walked in to find this picture!


Yes, he climbed into the tote. We had rice and peas everywhere! Oh well, he had fun and the handy mini vacuum came in REALLY handy!